Crate



Oct 1940' w. M. BROCKENBROUGH ET AL 2,216,638

' CRATE Filed June 22, 1936 INV'ENTORS. I

9' ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 1, 1940 UNITED STATES CRATE .William M. Brockenbrough, Winterhaven, Fla., and Harry S. Norris, Savannah, Ga., assignors to Evans Products Company, a corporation of Delaware Application June 22, 1936, Serial No. 86,552

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to wire bound containers, and in particular provides an improved wire bound crate and method of making the same.

' Objects of the present invention are to provide an improved wire bound crate and method of making the same, involving relatively few parts, all of which may be rapidly and economically manufactured and assembled together to form the complete crate.

Further objects of the present invention are to provide an improved wire bound crate and method of assembling the same, embodying a plurality of staves, secured together by a plurality of hoops spaced longitudinally of the crate, in which the crate is assembled from a mat constituted by a plurality of parallel staves, connected together by one or more of the previously mentioned hoops, the ends of the mat being connected together in assembly to form a cylindrical frame structure, to which the crate heads are thereafter secured; to provide such a construction in which certain of the hoops comprise inner and outer bands of wire, twisted together in the spaces between adjacent staves, to thereby form a rigid structure and to properly space the staves; to provide such a construction in which others of the hoopscomprise single bands of Wire secured inplace after formation of the mat into the cylindrical structure; to provide such a structure in which the two ends of the preformed mat are secured together by forming a free loop extending beyond the stave at one end of the mat, and slipping such free loop over a stave at the other end of the mat, in either parallel or interlockingrelation thereto.

Further objectsof the present invention are to provide, in connection with a crate of the above.

identified type, an improved means for securing the head to the cylindrical crate structure, comprising a plurality of clips, individual to the 'respectivestaves, each of which is secured to the associated stave and includes a clip portion disposed toextend above and inwardly over the top of the associated head; to provide such an arrangement in which the principal parts of the clips, by which they are secured to the staves, are located on the interior'of the crate, and thus are not subject to damage in transporting the crates; and to provide such a structure in which the clips act to secure the hoops in place longitudinally of the staves.

With the above and other objects in view, which appear in the following description, and in the appendedclaims, a preferred but illustrative embodiment of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, throughout the several views of which corresponding reference char acters are used to designate corresponding parts and in which: i v

Figure 1 is a view in perspective'of a completely assembled drum embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in section, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1; c

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View in perspective corresponding to Figure 1;

Figure ,4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view based upon Figure 1;

Figurev 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified arrangement; and l v Figure 6 is a fragmentary view supplementary to Figure 5.

Considering Figures/1 through 4 in detail, a completely assembled crate comprises generally a plurality of similarly formed staves 10, which may be of wood or similar light weight material, and which are connected together at a plurality of points by similarly constructedupper and lower hoops l2 and similarly constructed intermediate hoops l4. The ends of the crate are closed by heads iii of wood or similar light weight material, and which are retained in place relative to the staves by a plurality of clips I8.

Preferably, each crate is constructed by first forming a mat comprising a plurality of the staves ill arranged in spaced parallel relation, and connected together at the respective ends thereof by the end hoops 12. 'As an incident to the formation of the mat, the head clips [8, may be secured to the respective staves l0. Thereafter, the mat is rolled into cylindrical formation, and the ends thereof connected together in the manner here" inafterdescribed in detail. Upon being given the cylindrical formation, the crate may be reinforced at one or more points intermediate its ends by applying the hoops l4 thereto. The final assembly stepmay comprise the application to one end of the crate of one of the heads H5. The crate thus provided, closed at one end and open at the other, is found in practice to be sufficiently rigid to permit transportation thereof Without requiring exce'ssive care in handling. The construction of the clips l8 however is preferably such that they may be bent a number of times without injury thereto, so that if desired both heads may be applied as an incident to manufacture and one thereof removed as an incident to the loading of the crate.

As best shown in Figure 3, each of the end hoops l2 com-prises two encircling bands of wire, which are twisted together between the respective staves, to provide confining loops for the staves, by which the staves are properly spaced from each other. In the broader aspects of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the two encircling bands may pass sinuously around the crate, that is, either band may pass inside of one stave and outside of the adjacent stave. Preferably, however, the encircling bands 20 are disposed to lie adjacent the inner face of all of the staves, and the outer bands 22 are disposed to lie adjacent the outer face of all of the staves. This preferred arrangement is found advantageous in the manufacture of the mats, either by hand or by machine, since it permits the use of straight runs of wire. As. will be understood, a plurality of the staves 10 may be disposed above one straight run of wire, and a second straight run of wire may then be disposed over the staves. The twists 24 between adjacent staves, which serve to define the confining loop in the hoop, may readily be formed either by hand or by machine operation by inserting a tool into the space between the inner and outer bands, at a point between adjacent staves, and rotating the tool. As previously mentioned, in forming the mats, a free loop is provided at one end of the mat, which free loop is slipped over a stave at the other end of the mat, to thereby form a connection between the two mats I0. One stave in each crate is thus encircled with two loops individual to each end hoop. If desired, a staple may be driven over the end loop after forming the mat into circular formation, although in .practice, this is usually found unnecessary.

Preferably, and as illustrated, each of the intermediate hoops [4 comprises a single wire provided at one end with an eye-forming loop 26 and at the other end with a hook forming loop 28. The staples 30 and 32, which secure each hoop in place longitudinally of the staves [0 (Figure 4) also act to secure the free ends of the just mentioned loops 26 and 28. Additional staples 34 are preferably driven over the hoops l4 to prevent slippage thereof relative to the staves Ill. In assembly, one end of each hoop l4 may be secured to a stave [0 as by a rivet 30. The hoop may then be wound around the crate, the free end of the hook forming loop passed through the eye of the loop 26 and bent over as shown in Figure 4. In many cases, it is found desirable to somewhat loosely apply the hoops [4, so that, in loading a crate, a certain amount of bulging of the staves l6 intermediate their ends is permitted, which bulging takes up the looseness in the hoops. As will be appreciated, if it is desired to avoid this bulging, the hoops I4 may be applied in such a way as to provide the same crate circumference as is provided by the end hoop 12.

Each of the head retaining clips I8 is of generally U-shaped formation, having a connecting base 36 and legs extending in generally parallel relation therefrom and forming substantially a right angle therewith. Each upper leg portion 38 terminates in an inwardly extending offset 40, which rests upon the upper end of the associated stave. Each offset 40 is of substantially the same thickness as the associated stave. Thus, the upper portion 38 of each leg lies just outside the outer face of the associated stave, and the lower portion 52 of each leg lies adjacent the inner face of the associated stave in engaging relation thereto. A bead 44 is formed in each lower leg portion 42, to provide a confining eye for the inner encircling wire 20 of the associated end hoop I2. Just below each bead 44, each lower leg portion 42 is bent outwardly to form a portion 46, which pierces the associated stave Ill. The extremity 48 of each leg portion 42 is again bent inwardly and driven slightly into the associated stave, thus forming an eye within which the outer wire 22 of the hoop I2 is retained. It will be seen accordingly that in addition to providing means for retaining the cover in place upon the crate, the retaining clips also serve to retain the hoops l2 in place longitudinally of the staves I0.

As best shown in Figure 2, each of the heads I6 is formed of two plys of wood 52 and 53, connected by staples 54. The lower ply is somewhat smaller than the upper ply, and thus forms a shoulder or rim around the circumference of the head. The diameter of the lower ply 54 is such that it snugly fits into the end of the crate, below the level of the ends of the staves 10. The diameter of the upper ply 52 is such that the free edge thereof rests upon the seat formed by the stave ends and by the offsets 40 of the clips I8. As clearly appears in Figure 2, the assembly is completed by bending over the upper leg portion 38 of each clip, so that the clip overlies in engaging relation the upper ply 52 of the associated head.

In the alternative construction shown in Figures 5 and 6, the clips 60 areconstructed with substantially longer legs 62, so that the points at which the staves are pierced is more remote from the stave ends, thus minimizing any prospect of splitting the staves. The clip legs 62, also, are not provided with the beads 44, described above. Instead, in assembling the clips and staves, the clips legs overlie the hoop strands. If desired, as illustrated, the legs may be caused to form inwardly directed beads 64 in the inner and outer hoop strands 20 and 22, which beads, by being impressed into the staves, interlock the hoops against both transverse and longitudinal movement along the staves.

The end loops in each end hoop may be disposed parallel to each other as shown in Figure 1, or, alternatively, as shown in Figure 5, may be interlocked with each other. In Figure 5, the loop 66 is disposed below the free end 68 of the loop 10, and, after being fitted over the stave I0, the end 12 of loop 66 is twisted around the wire adjacent loop 10. Thus the tWo loops 66 and 10 cross each other, the strands of loop 66 lying outside the strands of loop 10. Preferably also, as a preliminaryto the fitting of loop 66 over stave ID, the outer legs 14 of the clip 60 are bentoutwardly, and, as a final step, are bent inwardly over the outer strands of both loops 66 and 10.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be evident that various modifications in the form, number and arrangement of parts may be made therein within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a crate formed of a plurality of staves and having a head adapted to close an end thereof, the combination of an encircling hoop having a plurality of loops formed therein, each of said loops receiving one of said staves to hold said staves in assembled relation, and a clip carried by one of said staves having a portion adapted to cooperate with said head to retain said head in assembled relation to said staves, said clip having bead portions disposed at each side of said one of said staves, said beads acting as retainers to receive and hold a loop of said hoop in assembled relation relative to a stave.

2. In a crate formed of a plurality of staves and having a head adapted to close an end thereof, the combination of a hoop for securing said staves together, comprising an inner encircling band adjacent the inner face of each of said staves and an outer encircling band against the outer 'face of each of said staves, and means for retaining said inner and outer encircling bands in predetermined position along said staves, including a clip having a part formed to cooperate with said head to retain said head on said crate, and having inner and outer beads to receive said inner and outer bands.

3. In a crate formed of a plurality of staves, and having a head for closing an end thereof, the combination of an encircling hoop for holding said staves in assembled relation, a clip carried by one of said staves and having a part adapted to cooperate with said head to hold said head in assembled relation relative to said staves, said hoop having a bead impressed into one of said staves to interlock it and to receive said clip.

4. The method of forming a crate of a plurality of staves which includes disposing one hoop element adjacent the inner face of each of said staves, disposing a second hoop element adjacent the outer face of each of said staves, said hoop elements being untwisted in the space between adjacent staves, and thereafter forming a twist in the space between two adjacent staves by applying an operator to said hoop elements in said space and rotating said operator relative to said adjacent staves and simultaneously twisting said elements together.

5. In a crate formed of a plurality of staves and having a head adapted to close an end thereof, the combination of an encircling hoop stranded to form loops, each loop being passed over the head of each of a corresponding one of said staves to hold said staves in assembled relation relative to each other, and means for securing said staves within said loops including a clip carried by a stave and having a part formed to cooperate with said head to hold said head on said crate, said clip having a leg pierced through said stave, the parts of said leg on opposite sides of said stave being formed to embrace the corresponding parts of the corresponding loop and hold the latter in place.

6. A crate having a plurality of staves, a first hoop element extending around the crate interiorly thereof adjacent the inner face of each of said staves, and a second hoop element extending around the crate exteriorly thereof adjacent the outer face of each of said staves, said hoop elements being twisted together within the spaces between adjacent ones of saidstaves so as to define loops therein for said staves, and so as to define in each said space a pair of twisted portions joined by an additional loop.

WILLIAM M. BROCKENBROUGH. HARRY S. NORRIS. 

